1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates devices and methods for testing the mental function of a user and utilizing the results of the test to control access to a specified activity.
2. Description of the Background Art
Accidents in the workplace cost many millions of dollars, hundreds of lives, and damage to the environment every year. The majority of these accidents are caused by human error. Human error has, of course, many causes, but it is most prevalent when an operator is impaired from lack of sleep, illness, or is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. In the U.S., 7.5 million workers in high-risk occupations are required to take random blood or urine tests to deter the use of drugs and alcohol on the job, a requirement that has helped reduce accidents. However, fatigue, illness and stress are more common causes of impairment than are the effects of drugs or alcohol. Accidents continue to occur in large part because workers are impaired by exhaustion, stress, and side effects from prescription medications or from a combination of these factors. There is therefore an urgent need for a way to screen workers for all impairment factors and causes before they begin work. Screening of this kind should be sensitive to impairment regardless of its cause, should be simple and quick, and should insure the maintenance of worker privacy.
This invention meets these and other needs and comprises a gateway for testing mental function. Generally, the gateway comprises a portable structure that houses one or more mental function testers. The gateway also comprises an access control device that allows the user to enter a defined area based upon the result of the mental function test. The access control device may either directly permit exit from the gateway or it may dispense a portable indicator of the test results. The portable indicator may comprise a token, stamp, receipt, or the like or may comprise information recorded to a portable memory device. The gateway may comprise one or more mental function testers that give the same or different tests. Accordingly, the gateway may be used to test multiple users simultaneously and may give the same or different tests. The gateway may house the tester either inside the structure or outside. Further, the gateway may comprise wheels. The invention also comprises methods of using the gateway, including the steps of assessing a user""s mental function and operating the access control device depending upon the assessment. The latter step may comprise permitting the user access to an at-risk activity.
The gateway is a portable, special-purpose enclosure whose main purpose is to function as a gateway into an area where one or more at-risk activities will occur, or will begin or are already taking place. It controls access to, or entry into, the area. If the person is denied entry into time area, they cannot engage in, or begin, the at-risk activity, such as driving a truck or taxi or doing welding.
The at-risk activity can be employment or leisure or entertainment, by adults or by children, or it can be in the Military or in law enforcement agencies. The at-risk activity can involve various degrees of physical activity and coordination, such as driving a truck or school bus, or welding, or engaging in a sport such as football, skiing, roller skating, or engaging in a skilled profession such as dentistry or surgery.
On the other hand, the at-risk activity can involve little physical activity but a lot of mental activity and decision-making such as being a radar operator, or an air traffic control operator, or operating a cargo ship or a ferry, or flying an airplane, or monitoring the control panel of a nuclear power plant.
These gateways contain one or more electronic devices that test people for mental alertness, mental fitness and normal mental functioning. A person enters one end of the enclosure and takes a mental function test. If they pass the test, they go out the other end through a gate, turnstile or door into the area where the at-risk activity is being or will be conducted. If they do not pass the test, they cannot get into the area and are thereby denied access to the at-risk activity.